2.
1ST STAGE: CHOOSING A PRODUCT CATEGORY WHICHHAS AN INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL AND LOCALRESEMBLENCE.I will take the SOAP CATEGORY as the topic of our POM project.This category has a Competition among LOCAL, NATIONAL and INTERNATIONALplayers.The Category has presence and acceptation in rural as well as urban markets.This category is seeing entry of Local and national players and extreme rise incompetition.This category in perusal to the Indian market sees majors like HUL in internationalplayers, ITC in emerging national players and Chhattisgarh Soaps in local players.We will be studying the activities and marketing procedure implemented by thesecompanies to motivate buying behavior of the consumer and increase sales.INDUSTRY ANALYSIS:The toilet soaps market is estimated at Rs 15,000 pa approx including small imports.The market is littered over with several, leading national and global brands and alarge number of small brands, which have limited markets. The popular andpremium brands include Lifebuoy, Lux, Cinthol, Liril, Rexona, and Nirma.Toilet soaps, despite their divergent brands, are not well differentiated by theconsumers. It is, therefore, not clear if it is the brand loyalty or experimentationlured by high volume media campaign, which sustain them. A consequence is that the

3.
market is fragmented. It is obvious that this must lead to highly competitive market.Toilet soap, once only an urban phenomenon, has now penetrated practically allareas including remote rural areas. The incremental demand flows from populationincrease and rise in usage norm impacted as it is by a greater concern for hygiene.Increased sales revenues would also expand from up gradation of quality or perunit value.As the market is constituted now, it can be divided into four price segments:premium, popular, discount and economy soaps. Premium soaps are estimated tohave a market volume of about 557611 tonnes. This translates into a share ofabout14 to 15%.Soaps form the largest pie of the FMCG Market with bathing & toilet soaps accountingfor around 30% of the soap market, by value. Currently, the soap industry is dividedinto three segments namely Premium, Popular and Economy/ Sub popular.To fight competition, major players Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Godrej ConsumerProducts Ltd (GCPL) and Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting are now drawing up freshgame plans. And the accent is clearly on innovation to gain mind share as well asmarket share in this overcrowded category.MAJOR PLAYERS:Hindustan Unilever Ltd.With over seven brands — LUX, LIFEBUOY, HAMAM, REXONA, BREEZE, DOVE andPEARS — has 51.2% volume share of the overall soap market. HUL is Indias largestFast Moving Consumer Goods Company; its journey began 75 years ago, in 1933,when the company was first incorporated. The company stirring the lives of two outof three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Productsand Foods & Beverages and also one of the countrys largest exporters. HULs brandsincludes Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Ponds, Sunsilk, Clinic,Pepsodent, Close-up, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr-Annapurna, Kwality Walls- are household names across the country. They are manufactured in over 40factories across India. In the Rs 14915 crore by sales soap market, HUL’s market

4.
share has dropped to 51.6% value market share in March 2009 from 55.9% in March2006.Godrej Consumer ProductsGCPL, India’s second largest soap maker after Hindustan Unilever Ltd, hasnearly9.2% market share. With 11% market share in value terms, it is the secondlargest soap maker after Hindustan Unilever. Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) is amajor player in the Indian FMCG market with leadership in personal, hair, householdand fabric care segments. The company is one among the largest marketer of toiletsoaps in the country with leading brands such as CINTHOL, FAIRGLOW, NIKHAR,&ALLCARE. Fairglow brand, Indias first Fairness soap, has created marketinghistory as one of the most successful innovations. It is also the preferred supplier forcontract manufacturing of toilet soaps, some of which are the most well-knownbrands in the country.WiproIn the Indian market, Wipro is a leader in providing IT solutions and services for thecorporate segment in India. Wipro also has a profitable presence in niche marketsegments of infrastructure engineering and consumer products & lighting. Wipro hasmade a large acquisition in the Consumer Care business. The presence of Wipro inthe toilet soap industry can be seen through their brands such as SANTOOR andCHANDRIKA. With industry leading organic growth rates and the acquisition ,Consumer care business has reached a Revenue run rate in excess of $100 millionper quarter.

5.
NirmaIncorporated as a private limited company, Nirma was converted into a deemedpublic company and then to a public limited one in Nov.93. Nirma has a leadershippresence in Detergents, Soaps and Personal Care Products. To have a greater controlon the quality and price of its raw materials, Nirma undertook backward integrationinto manufacture of Industrial Products like Soda Ash, Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB),Alfa Olefin Sulphonates (AOS), Fatty Acid, Glycerine and SulphuricAcid. During1996-97, Nilnita Chemicals, Nirma Detergents, Nirma Soaps andDetergents, andShiva Soaps and Detergents were amalgamated with the company.The companycreated Nirma Consumer Care Ltd. - a wholly owned subsidiary on22nd Aug.97,which is the sole licensee of the brand name Nirma within India. Nirma enjoys ashare of 6.74% in soaps.ITCITC, the country’s largest cigarette maker, entered the segment last year and hasmade a strong headway in a short time. According to AC Nielsen, its share has grownto 1.75% in just five months despite the fact that many of its brands such as Superia,Fiama Di Wills and Vivel are currently sold in only six states

7.
What influences consumers to purchase products or services?The consumer buying process is a complex matter as many internal and externalfactors have an impact on the buying decisions of the consumer.When purchasing a product there several processes, which consumers gothrough? POST NEED INFORMATION SEARCH FOR PURCHASED PURCHASE RECOGNITION SEARCH ALTERNATIVES ICISION BEHAVIOR PURCHASE PROCESSFig 1.

8.
Fig 2Analyzing the buying behavior of our selected category

9.
The soap category falls under the low involvement segment and its buyingbehavior does not always follow the whole purchase process.Here the NEED RECOGNITION is the most important.Here after the consumer goes straight to the buying option.HABITUAL Buying Behavior 1 the consumer is aware of his/her choice 2 decision is based on personal experience 3 spends low or no time in choosing an alternative 4 perceives low risksVAIRITY SEEKING Buying BehaviorThis category shows a change when there is a new launch which leads to achange in the consumer’s decision criteria.New launches lead to trail purchasesPICKINGThe consumer is indifferent to the brands and is motivated by the Place andTime Utility. The behavior is ruled by CONVINIENCE AND AVABILITY.IMPULSEThe consumer reacts to his/her sudden urge to purchase the product. Thisbehavior is dominated by the AVABILITY of products in the store.RECALL or RECOGNITION

10.
The consumer is ruled by the marketing activities of a particular brand and thedecision has already been made.NEED RECOGNITION IN SOAP CATEGORY TYPES OF NEEDS SELF BASIC SECURITY SOCIAL STATUS ACTUALI ZATIONBasic needs in SOAP CATEGORY 1 Cleanliness 2 FreshnessHere a consumer searches for a product which will give him/her a feel ofcleanliness and freshness after using it.The Liril , Vivel-Deo and Cinthol ads shows the fulfillment of this need using theproducts.Security needs in SOAP CATEGORY 1 Health Conscious

11.
2 Skin Friendly 3 Washing hands before entering kitchen 4 Washing hands before eating 5 Washing hands after using the toiletHere a consumer searches for a product which gives a feeling of security fromgerms after using the product. The product should also not have any after useeffects.The Lifebuoy and Dettol Ads show fulfillment of the security need.Social needs in SOAP CATEGORY 1 One wants to be clean and odorless to be accepted in the society 2 One wants to look fresh and attractiveHere a consumer wants to satisfy his/her own self as well as the sociallyaccepted by the people.The Superia “Father Baby” Ad shows the fulfillment of this Social need.Status needs of SOAP CATEGORY 1 Feeling proud when demanding the product 2 PricingHere a consumer looks at the ingredients of the product, the after effect and thefeel after using the product. The pricing of the product also stirs the need.Self Actualization need in SOAP CATEGORY 1 Brand loyalty 2 Post used satisfaction

12.
3 Feeling more than using a soap 4 Feeling of Beauty and admiration .Here a consumer gets more than what are the basic needs from soap. Herehe/she feels or gets more.The Dove Soap Ad and Godrej No 1 fulfills the self actualization need by makinga woman feel more complete by using the productRebel Need in SOAP CATEGORY 1 Soaps for men 2 Soaps restricting body odourA category which thinks above the basic need and is a very small category.The Park Avenue Ad projects to fulfill the need of people in this category.In the SOAP Category the Buying Behavior is often dominated by thePRICE SEGMENTS AND CLASSIFICATIONS.

13.
CLASSIFICATIONS EXAMPLESMedical Medimix,ChandrikaDISCOUNT Breeze,Superia,Nima,DynaPOPULAR Lifebuoy,Santoor,Vivel,PREMIUM Lux, rexona,Liril,SUPER PREMIUM Dove, Fiama Di Wills3RD STAGE: UNDERSTANDING THE IMPLICATIONS OFDIFFERENT COMPANIES.India is a fascinating country where people of many different communities andreligions live together in unity. Indian Population is polygenetic and is anamazing amalgamation of various races and cultures.

20.
ON GROUND ACTIVATIONS1 CONSUMER SCHEMES Retail activation where the consumer is benefited on purchase of the product.2 Wholesale Activity

21.
These type of activities attract retailers from the wholesale outlet.To Attract traders different types of schemes, like trade discounts , QPS andSTPRs are run . these schemes help to sell in depth and block the traderscapital.CONSUMER PROMOTIONSTo attract customers Consumer promotions are also run. it gives a advantage tothe product over its competitor.Consumer Wrapper redemption and coupon Schemes.

22.
Consumer coupons and wrapper redemption schemes are an important way ofholding and increasing market share.It also helps in increasing the customer base and helps in increasing thepurchase quantity and frequency of loyal customers.SAMPLE PICTURES OF PRODUCTS WHOSE NAMES HAVE BEEN USED IN THEPROJECT